Jasna Góra translates into English as Bright Mountain. With 293 m above sea level it actually is a hill, still demanding a little bit of climbing. But if you add the height of the Jasna Góra Tower - 106 m, then you already get half a kilometre to climb. Sadly for amateurs of mountain climbing, you do not get that high, just more or less half the way.
The present tower is the fifth in the history of the monastery. After the great fire that broke out in 1900, it was rebuilt and gained its present shape, formed by increasingly narrow, overlapping square floors. There are 516 steps leading up to the fifth story, from which the entire area can be viewed. Mounted above the first level is a clock with 36 bells and chimes, playing Marian melodies every quarter. At the corners of the tower's middle tier are four statues of saints: Paul the Hermit, Florian, Casimir the Prince and Hedwig of Silesia. The highest, fifth tier, meanwhile, is decorated with statues of: st. Wojciech, st. Stanislaw and st. Augustine and st. Leo XIII. The needle of the tower is topped with a raven with a bread loaf in its beak, whose wingspan is 170 cm. The highest the tower can be climbed is the second viewing platform reached by around 300 steps.
The tower is an architectural symbol of the Jasna Gora sanctuary. In terms of the height of church towers in Poland, it ranked second. In the 1980s the spire was restored, and the first and second floors of the tower were repaired. In recent years the entire tower was cleaned.
The Jasna Gora tower is visible from many sides of Czestochowa, and is certainly one of the most important elements of Jasna Gora. A red and white flag flies permanently from it, reminding us that the Spiritual Capital of Poland is here.
The opening hours are 8:00am-4:00pm, April – November. Entrance is free.
All are welcome!
